Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
He smiles, and it knocks the breath out of me. “We can save it for when you’re feeling better. It shouldn’t take you long to recover. They did the surgery, but the bullet went straight through. They just had to make sure you were all closed up.”
The thought of being opened up in some hospital makes me queasy, taking some of the shine off the moment. “So what happens now?”
“You recover, we go back to our lives, minus your asshole father, and live happily ever after.”
I stare into his eyes and shake my head. “I don’t believe in happily ever afters. It’s a fairy tale, not real life.”
He slides closer and tucks me against his side. “Then I guess I need to change your mind. If we are in a fairy tale, it’s one of those fucked-up ones, but even then, it’s going to have the ending we want.”
I close my eyes and drift off, his voice in my head warming me, healing me in ways he doesn’t even realize.
When I wake again, he’s still there. The room is quiet and dark, the blinds drawn. I gently prod at my wound, and pain spears through me. “Shit.”
He startles next to me and scrambles off the bed. “What do you need? Are you okay?”
I nod. “Fine. I gotta get used to the pain. I can’t take the pain meds until it’s completely gone.”
His gaze narrows. “You sure as shit can. Right now, you could ask Adrian for the moon, and he’d bring it to you on a silver platter.”
“It’s the drugs. I don’t like things in my body like that. Not after everything my father did, all the experiments.”
Slowly, he climbs back into the bed and curls on his side next to me. No doubt so he can keep a close watch on every facial expression I make, hunting for any hint of pain. “You know I love you, right? I wanted to tell you so many times, but I didn’t feel like I could. That I hadn’t earned the right to say the words to you when your father still lived.”
My heart tips in my chest, sending liquid warmth through my system. I feel like I’ve landed on a cloud, and my tattooed barbarian is the one holding it up in the sky. “What did you say?”
“You are my entire world, Priscilla. You calm the beast in me and make me want to be a better person. Well, you make me a better person on your own. If people need to die, I’m still going to kill them, but I’ll listen to your opinion about it first.”
There’s a solemnity to his voice that touches me. I try to roll to my side, but it hurts, so I pull his face up to mine. “I love you too. More than anything in the world. I can’t believe I get to keep you. That you’re mine.”
His mouth ticks up, full and beautiful, and makes me want to kiss him. “You do get to keep me because if you try to walk away, you won’t get very far, I promise you.”
I drift in and out for a while, bolstered by his presence and his words. The next time I wake, Val is with me, and Ivan is asleep in a nearby chair.
Val hefts herself out of the chair to stare at me in the bed. “How are you feeling?”
I give her the same answer I gave her husband. “Like I’ve been shot. Strangely, I’m happy, though.”
She chuckles, then groans. “I only snuck in once he’d passed out. I needed to say thank you as well. I didn’t want my child to grow up without a father.”
I nod, uncomfortable with her thanks. “What happened to the woman who shot me, who tried to kill him?”
There’s something she doesn’t want to tell me. Her eyes drop to her feet, and she fists the covers as she maintains her precarious balance. “She’s with Alexei right now. He’s going to get the information we need.”
“Will he torture her?”
She meets my eyes again. “Probably. But don’t worry about it. Focus on getting better. On being with Ivan the way you deserve.”
“How can I focus on that when she’s being tortured. Can you let her go? Maybe she made a terrible mistake and needs the chance to fix it?”
Val grabs my hand and holds it between both of her own. “You might be right. She might get the chance, but that’s not something you need to worry about. Get better. Focus on healing.”
Ivan wakes and shoos Valentina out the door. When he takes me in his arms again, I sigh, letting myself relax, breathing him in. My entire world. My life. My husband.
THE END